Method and apparatus for storing and shipping liquids



Oct. 2, 1934. R. J OHN 1,975,428

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STORING AND SHIPPING LIQUIDS Fil ed May 15, 1955 Patented 1934 METHOD AND AND APPARATUS-FOR s'ronrNG smrrmc LIQUIDS Robert John, New York, N. Y. ApplicationMay 15, 1933, Serial No. 671,175

7 Claims. (01. 206-65) This invention relates to the art of shipping containers for lubricating oils or other liquids. According to the existing commercial practice, containers are commonly-shipped from a central factory or warehouse in packages of a dozen,

or multiples thereof, both to wholesale and retail dealers and to ultimate consumers, and for that purpose, they are packed in a wooden box or carton of solid fibre or of corrugated strawboard, which box may, or may not, be provided with wooden or cardboard partitions to separate the individual containers; boxes or cartons of this nature are sometimes constructed to hold a single tier of the individual containers and sometimes to hold a plurality of tiers.

In this type of box or carton it will be obvious that when the box or carton is rolled from or rested on a single corner or edge, the individual containers nearest such comeror edge are subiected to unusual stress due to the weight of the containers positioned above them. Thus, when a case of this character is thrown, for example, from the floor of a freight car to the concrete platform, and happens to fall on an edge or corner, it is usually found that some of the containers are dented, destroyed or broken, or even ruptured by the impact due to the shock created by the weight of the other individual containers positioned above them; this in spite of the fact 30 that any single container in the case or carton might have been able to withstand the shock it dropped separately.

This problem of breakage or injury to containers of the fibrous type, shown for example inmy application Serial No. 653,340 filed Jan. 24, 1933 is quite substantial. In that application, an .oil container made of laminated fibre with rigid endsis disclosed, the size of such cylindrical container to hold one quart of motor oil 40 and being approximately 8 inches in length overall, with a diameterof approximately 3.25

inches. I

The object of my invention, therefore, is to combine a plurality, of these containers in a single fibrous unit which is suitable for shipping and storing in such a manner as to insure the greatest possible constructional strength of the unit at a cost which is most economical as compared with the conventional boxes now in general-use.-

It is a'further object of my invention to provide a simple means of combining a plurality of said units, eachcontaining a plurality of the individual containers, as aforesaid, in such a way as to provide a satisfactory and convenient bundle for shipment without increasing the strain on the individual elements, while atthe same time providing a suflicient aggregate weight to frictionally engage the floor and prevent slippage thereof in transit.

Another important object of my invention is the method of compactly assembling a plurality of oil containers or the like in longitudinal units which are easily manipulated in further assembly into composite bundles and lend themselves individually to ready and convenient carrying, for

example, under the arm by the retailer or ultimate consumer.

Still another important object of my invention resides in the method of assembling a plurality of oil containers or the like in a compact manner in a rigid, preformed, close fitting unit holder, to prevent lateral shifting of individual containers, to reinforce the composite unit by the individual containers and to produce a composite unit of such structural strength which will render maximum resistance to damage, when such a unit, either singly or in combinationwith others, is subjected to rough handling in transit.

Referring now more specifically to my invention:

Figure 1 represents a viewof one of my containers;

Figure 2 is a sectional view 'of a unit containing a plurality of said containers;

Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the man- 35 her in which a plurality of said units are bound together for shipping purposes, and

Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 1 looking at the latter from the right; and I Figure 5 is a. sectional view, showing a modiflcation of my invention wherein a group of seven units are secured together in a'shipping asse'nblage.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the container 1 adapted to hold, for example, lubricating oil is preferably provided with metal ends 2 and 3. For the purpose of storing these containers, I provide an elongated cylindrical fibrous unit 4. It is advantageous to pack such containers in fours to provide a gallon and to combine the gallon units in a single package of 2-'-4-8, or any other desired multiple of the gallon. To do this and to accomplish the sults above outlined, I prepare a strawboard tune by spiral or straight winding or by any other well known means, which tube has an inside diameter of approximately the outside diameter of individual containers 1, and which is of such a length that when four containers are snugly inserted therein, the bottom of the bottom container no they may be pushed out of the tube without strain or undue pressure.

Having placed four of my quart containers in the tube unit 4, I close the ends of the tube by suitable means, such as a paper cap cemented thereto or a metal cap affixed by any of the several methods well known in the art, which cap is designated by reference numeral 5. The advantage of such group package will be obvious when it is realized that the stiff tin or cardboard ends of each individual contain er form a rigid support for the outside of the carton, thus relieving the side walls of the container itself to'a great degree of any strains produced by shocksover the side wall section of the container between its ends; further in the vertical position, the group presents its greatest structural strength and the whole may be dropped vertically on a hard surface from any heightwhich a single container would stand. The abutting ends, in the illustration given, are designated by reference numerals 6, 7 and 8, thus providing three intermediate reinforced places for the cylindrical unitary tube 4.

This unit, with the containers therein, may be shipped singly with safety or it may be combined with other group units to form a single bundle containing any required amount of oil.

To effect this, the units are merely placed in a pile, preferably in a triangular or peaked disposition, with their ends even and bound with wire, iron tape, or cord X, applied in such a manner as to provide sufficient friction to prevent endwise slippage. In applying the binding material, it is desirable to place this inwardly from each end of the bundle at a point somewhat near the location of the internal stiifeners represented by the rigid ends of the cans, as shown by reference numeral 9, thus making it possible to supply sufiicient pressure to secure desired friction without danger of injuring the side wall structure of any single container.

Irrespective of whether thegroup units arebaled together, or whether they are stacked as cordwood, it is to be noted that at the two ends and at three equally spaced locations, as above stated, within the tube, the rigid ends of the inside containers serve to form a solid wall of supporting rigid material extending from the bottom of the stack to the top. In other words, the structure of the individual container itself is utilized to give strength to the unitary assemblage, either when used as a single unit or when the units are wrapped together in the multiple, which advantage is not available in any known type of container for packaging such cylinders.

As a further advantage of my invention, it has been ascertained that the total cost of packaging in my cylindrical units is less than the cost of the cheapest form of comparative package now in general use.

It is further to be observed. that in the event of fracture of a single container, little or no damage will result to the adjoining packages, and in the worst event, only four containers would be disfigured by the spillage; this as against the fact that a single broken container in a case or carton now conventionally employed usually destroys or disfigures all of the other individual containers of that case or carton.

mamas Referring now to my modification shown in Fig. 5, this has certain advantages over the arrangement shown in Fig. 3. Thus cylinders A, B and C have only line contact with the strap 9. The result is that cylinder Dmay be rotated clock- .wiseto force cylinder A to left, or vice versa,-

thus distorting the packages. Aecording to the structure shown in Fig. 4, however, there are seven units arranged to prevent rolling and which present equal faces on all sides, while at thesame time, because of the shape of the package, it discourages extra high piling of other articles thereon. Moreover, the assemblage can be rolled on one edge, as a barrel, while each outside cylinder presents equal friction to the band or strap 9. ll

As a modification, my so-called sticks, namely, the cylindrical tubular devices for receiving a plurality of the individual containers, may be placed on what are known in the railroad industry as fskids. A skid is a platform on runners with slats for side walls on which ten sticks across and 25 inches high may be stacked for freight shipment, containing in the aggregate 250 gallons of oil. The skid is moved from storage to freight car and vice versa by means against the inner wall of said elongated holder,

thereby producing, when the holder is filled with said containers, a unitary shipping package of maximum strength, said liquid containers having substantial weight when filled and said metal ends being of such width as to offer an adequate bearing surfacewhen fitting against the inner 120 wall of the holder.

2. A shipping package comprising in combination a preformed elongated stiff and rigid tubular holder adapted to be closed by caps, a plurality of liquid containers dimensioned and contoured to snugly and compactly fit within said holder with the ends of adjacent containers abutsaid holder, said holder being adapted to snugly but slidably receive said containers through an open end thereof, and freely and slidably discharge said containers, said liquid containers ting and forming. annular reinforcing bands for having substantial weight when filled and said ends being of such width as to offer an adequate of the adjacent containers abutting and forming reinforcing bands against spaced areas of the inner wall of said holder, thereby reinforcing the same at such areas and. to provide a unitary shipping package of maximum strength, said liquid containers having substantial weight whenfilled and said metal ends being of such width as to offer an adequate bearing surface when fitting against the inner wall of the holder.

4. A unitary shipping package comprising, in combination, a preformed, rigid, fibrous, tubular holder, a plurality of individual containers for oil or the like disposed therein, said individual containers being dimensioned and contoured to fit closely and snugly within the confines of the preformed fibrous container by being adapted to be discharged, individually, therefrom, without disrupture to the fibrous tubular holder and said containers having rigid ends abutting each other and forming reinforcing bands at spaced intervals with respect to the tubular holder whereby to lend reinforcement thereto, and means for closing an end of said tubular holder, said liquid containers having substantial weight. when filled and said rigid ends being of such width as to offer an adequate bearing surface when fitting against the inner wall of the holder.

5. In thev art of storing and shipping oil or other liquids, the steps which comprise providing a preformed, elongated, tubular, fibrous unit of relatively rigid character, introducing to said "holder a plurality of individual containers'iin aligned relationship, therein and with the ends removable without disrupture to said fibrous holder, and closing the holder by caps, said liquid containers having substantial weight when filled and said ends being of such width as to offer an adequate bearing surface when fitting against the inner wall of the holder.

6. In the art of storing and shipping oil or other liquids, the steps which comprise providing a preformed elongated, tubular, fibrous unit of relatively rigid character, introducing to a holder a'plurality of individual containers, in

dently removable without disrupture to said fl-.

brous holder, closing the holder by caps, and securing a number of said unitary assemblages together to provide a unitary package composed of a plurality of said elongated holders filled with said individual liquid containers, said liquid containers having substantial weight when filled and said ends being of such width as to ofier an adequate bearing surface when fitting against the inner wall of the holder.

sures of adjacent containers are brought into abutting relationship, utilizing said abutting end closures to produce reinforcing braces for said holder and closing said holder by means of end caps, said liquid containers having substantial weight when filled and said ends being of such width as tooffer an adequate bearing surface when fitting against the inner wall of the holder.

ROBERT JOHN. 

